The ZB Foundation

This beautiful baby, with a dark secret inside, was given an another chance when she was adopted, at birth by a couple that at marriage made a promise to each other to give an abandoned baby girl from Pakistan another chance. Zahra Beau, with her adopted parents, left the seemingly lost cause of a life as abandoned girl in a 3rd world country and moved to a place that offered greater hope, love and compassion. But that fairytale was cut short immediately, as ZB’s dark secret, a metabolic disease gained at birth through the misfortune of her birth parents’ genes, would come rushing back to claim her life.In just 4 short months from her birth, having overcome so many obstacles to just find love, ZB’s final battle, to beat a disease that occurred 1 in 250,000 babies – Glutaric Academia Type 2, did not end like a fairytale.

Zahra Beau Naqvi, died on February 18th, 2012, leaving behind heartbroken parents and a family and friend network deep in shock. A baby girl, one who had so much passion and fight to live, one who had so many odds stacked against her, fought for 16 days in ICU till the bitter end to save her life. Betrayed by her body, she willed herself to live, to beat a disease that was incurable if not detected at birth. She never gave up; her parents never gave up until time eventually ran out on the fight.

ZB could have, may have lived and beaten her ultimate obstacle if doctors had performed just one simple ‘heel-prick’ test known as “New Born Screening”. This test would have triggered enough red flags to warrant further investigation which most likely would have led to the discovery of the metabolic disorder. From this painful experience comes the birth of the ZB Foundation, set up by Zahra’s parents in her memory and spirit and designed to give other babies the chance that Zahra never got herself.